Coming Home
by MJLS
Summary: Gillian had told him earlier to go home and get as much sleep as he could before coming back in the office. Ria had also threatened him to personally drag him to bed and Eli had just told him he looked like crap.


Twirling around on his chair and holding one of his classy pens, Cal didn't really know what to do. They had just finished the last case and now his brain was running on useless adrenaline. His team had just left for their own families, or apartments, whatever worked for them but Cal just couldn't let his eyes rest. Although he hadn't slept for the entire durance of the case, the adrenaline refused to let his body shut down. A heavy sigh escaped from his lips as he buried his head in his hands, trying to calm down and get sleep to run over him.

Gillian had told him earlier to go home and get as much sleep as he could before coming back in the office. Ria had also threatened him to personally drag him to bed if he was still there in the morning or had arrived earlier than her. Eli had just told him he looked like crap. Just what he had expected the man to say.

Usually, he wouldn't mind the whiteness of the walls of his office, but now it was starting to hurt his eyes. Even seeing pictures of himself plastered all over the wall was starting to disturb him at this moment. Standing up from the chair he vacated, Cal slumped over to the coffee machine just outside his office. Drinking coffee when he was trying to sleep wasn't really one of his best ideas but he didn't want to fall asleep at his desk either. If he had to drive home before he could sleep, he would at least need the coffee to keep him awake during the trip home.

Sipping from the hot coffee on his way to his car, Cal thought about the case he had just solved and whatever the next case might involve. He was also sure that there was some sort of thing going on between Ria and Eli but he wasn't sure about it. _Must investigate further_, he fingered the keys out of his pocket, replacing the empty spot with the pen he was still holding in his hand while he made his way over to his car and started the engine. Turning it off again, Cal rubbed his hands over his face and sighed, he just couldn't bring himself to go home again. He didn't know why, as his daughter was waiting for him. It was one of the rare weekends that she actually spends with him and he had been stuck on a case.

When he had informed her of this, she had told him she didn't mind but he had heard the slight disappointment in her voice even through the phone. He threw his jacket on the seat next to him and realized that he really needed a shower and possibly some fresh clothes too. At least he should, even it was only to look presentable for future clients. You never know when they might knock at your door. Looking at himself in the small rear mirror, he only saw a tired man sitting in the seat of his car. Tired green eyes looked back at him and greasy brown hair framed his face and a few strands hung in front of his face.

Cal pursed his lips together before muttering some incoherent words under his breath. He shook his head out of his thoughts and turned his attention to the road. He was sure that he broke some speed limits but he didn't really care about those right now. When he finally did manage to arrive at home for the first time in 3 days, Cal couldn't help but sigh in relief at the familiar sight.

He grabbed his coat from the seat next to him and closed the car behind him. The first room he got in after coming out from the garage was the kitchen. It was still gleaming properly from the last time he had cleaned it up and proved him that Emily had clearly not bothered to use any of the equipment except of the fridge. He smiled and grabbed a glass, filling it with water and drinking it out in one gulp. The cold water cooled his dry throat before he moved along. Curtains were drawn and forced him to turn on some of the lights he'd rather not put on when he first came home as they lighted up almost the whole first floor except those rooms that were out of it's reach. He squinted when the light scared away the cold shadows hanging around him and lighted up the whole living room.

The coffee table was filled with open magazines, closed ones, books and notes, even a few pencils and some drawings together with some empty glasses, cans and a pizza box with still two slices in it. It was clear this Emily had kept herself busy this weekend, whether it was for school or just relaxation. Cal smiled at her and looked at her sleeping form on his couch. One of her arms was tucked under her head as support while the other hung just over the edge of the couch. Her laptop lay discarded on the carpet and he had to be careful not to step on it when he came closer.

She was sleeping so deep and quietly that the first thing Cal did was crouch down next to her and place two fingers right in her neck to feel for a pulse. After all, she had been home alone for two days and clearly enjoyed eating lots of junk food while he wasn't there to tell her to be healthy. He just wanted to be sure in the end really, to put a rest to his paranoid subconscious. When he did feel the beat of her heart pounding under his fingertips, Cal let out a breath of relief he hadn't noticed he was holding. Leaning back on his heels and then resting his back against the coffee table, he let his eyes scan over her curled up body, taking in every little inch of her as to memorize it for whenever she wasn't there with him.

He grabbed one of the folded blankets from the closet in the hallway and quickly draped it over her tiny figure, kissing her forehead before he started cleaning up the mess she had made. He didn't mind, since his body was still trying to get rid of the adrenaline, every little thing helped him get more tired, or so he reasoned. Slumping himself up the stairs, he already discarded of various times of clothing. By the time he arrived at the bathroom itself, he had already gotten rid of his dark blue vest, his shirt and tie and was now busy trying to get the belt out of the loops of his pants. This proved to be more difficult than he wanted at the time.

The moment the water hit his back and made sure all his muscles started to relax; Cal sighed in relief and leaned against the wall with one hand to support his weight. He felt the stress seeping out of his body with every drop that hit his skin. Turning his head towards the shower cap, he felt the hot water burn his skin and knew it would leave some red marks that would thankfully later fade away again (what would his team otherwise think? That he tripped over his own ego or lies and fell on the stove?).

The long shower that he intended to take ended abruptly when he heard noise downstairs. Part of his mind told him that it was probably Emily waking up from the light he had left on but another part of him just wanted to get from under the hot water. He quickly dried himself off and donned some of his sweatpants and a loose t-shirt. The pants were loose at the ankle, and flapped around his legs when he moved, emphasizing how tall and thin he was, and making him look slightly gangly.

"Hey love," he smiled at her just reaching her bedroom door as he walked out of the bathroom, still drying his hair with a towel.

"You know, you could've woken me up when you came home, the couch isn't the most comfortable place to lie on for more than a few hours," she winced and stretched her back.

Cal raised both of his eyebrows at his daughter who had said more than once that she preferred his couch above all others. She smiled back at him and walked over, wrapping her arms around his waist and laying her head on his chest. He hugged her back and rested his chin on the top of her head.

"At least it's better than mom's," she admitted, her voice slightly muffled because of the position of her head. He grinned, hearing his daughter complain about the couch at her mother's again. He knew it wasn't a very comfortable couch at his ex-wife's house -- one of those severe Victorian ones, covered in faded red velvet, and designed mostly for looks.

He ran his fingers through his daughter's brown hair and smiled, kissing the top of her head before he pushed her towards her room. She swayed a little and he supported her by placing his hand on the small of her back.

"You need to shave," Emily muttered when he gave her a kiss on the cheek and then tucked her in. She rubbed the place where he had kissed her and pursed her lips together. He grinned and ruffled her hair, giving her another kiss, teasing her a bit more.

"How was the case?" Emily yawned, snuggling closer to him as he lay down next to her on her bed. He hadn't seen her in a few weeks and just lying next to her felt good, he had missed holding his daughter. Even if she sometimes told him that he should stop acting like she was still 5 years old, secretly, she loved it; Cal could read it of her face.

"How was it at your moms?" Call asked back, instead of really answering the question. He never really liked talking about his cases with his daughter.

"It was fine," Emily rolled her eyes and then buried her head deeper in his chest. She sighed in relief when he pulled her closer and smiled lovingly down at her.

These were the small moments he longed for every time that she was at his house. Whether it was during a case, or after a case, it was always relaxing to lie next to his daughter and listen to her breath, her heartbeat. He tried to convince his ex-wife to let her come over as much as possible but she kept refusing, knowing how busy he was with cases. If she would know that he had just left their daughter alone for 3 whole days just for work, she would absolutely refuse to let Emily come over for another few weeks.

"I missed you this weekend," Emily sighed in her sleep and opened her eyes a bit to look up at him. Cal thought about it and then nodded, smiling.

"I'll call your mother and tell her I'm kidnapping you for another 3 days," he smiled, winking at her.

"She's not going to like that."

"No, but I have the right to spend time with my daughter. Also, don't tell her I wasn't here this weekend," he winced, "she might kill me with her bare hands if she hears about it."

Emily chuckled and crawled closer to her father who resulted in resting on his back instead of his side. She laid her head down on his chest and threw her arm over his waist. He smiled and closed his own eyes, rubbing circles on Emily's back.

* * *

He didn't know when he was woken up by the telephone ringing but it was way too early for him to be up anyway, that was for sure. He groaned and got out of Emily's bed, making sure he didn't wake her up. He almost fell down the stairs as he stumbled down and grabbed the telephone in his hand.

"Yeahuh?"

"Sorry to call so early Dr. Lightman," Ria's voice sounded cheerful yet had a tone of gravity in it that woke Cal right up.

"What's the matter?" he asked in his typical British accent that was known to make Gillian chuckle whenever people who hired him looked weird at him.

"We have a case."

"Can't Foster take it?" he grumbled, rubbing his tired eyes and moving to the couch and laid down, grabbing the blanket that Emily had discarded last night and draped it over him.

"The client wants you," Ria winced at the other side of the line, he could hear her sigh.

"Can't you tell him I'm sick or something?"

"That would be lying Dr. Lightman."

"Deal with it," Cal hung up and threw the phone on the other side of the couch before placing his head in his hands and trying to rub the sleep out of his eyes. He opened the curtains in the living room and was soon met with the bright sun rays just coming up from behind several houses. He grunted in disgust and shielded his eyes from the bright light before he stalked over to the kitchen and began breakfast, if he wanted to spend more time with his daughter, then they would have to start the day well and then turn it even better.

Maybe they could go to the amusement park…

* * *

first time writing for this show, kind of hard to get the characters right but to me, Cal seems like the sort of person who would just not go to bed until the case is done and then crash for a good day or two to get his energy back up. But that's just me. Also, I tried to give him some sort of good relationship with his daughter, like, a really close relationship. Even though it's not that close on the show, or maybe it is but we barely see him with his daughter so we don't really know. I can see him as a really caring father though. So that's part of the reason why I wrote him like this in this oneshot.

I hope you all like it though, leave a review and tell me what you thought please? I would appreciate it so much.

**Disclaimer: **don't own


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